Submitted by support on Sun, 04/22/2012 - 02:11
Cocoa has cancer fighting antioxidant compounds. (click here for more info)
by HEALTHY DARK CHOCOLATE 4 U on Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 12:50pm
Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., noted that his research revealed that hot cocoa is much richer in known naturally occurring anti-cancer substances than either red wine or green tea. His research showed that hot cocoa contains significant amounts of phenolic phytochemicals (chemical naturally occurring in plants) known as flavonoids. The flavonoids are known cancer fighters. The specific phenolic compounds were gallic acid and epicatechin. They reported the data as gallic acid equivalents (GAE) and epicatechin equivalents (ECE).
Material Tested GAE ECE
Serving of Cocoa 611 564
Cup Green Tea 165 47
Glass Red Wine 340 163
Dr. Lee is quoted as saying that prior to the study, he would have guessed that green tea would have been the richest in antioxidant activity, but it turned out to be cocoa. He said that when comparing a normal serving of each beverage. Cocoa had by far the most cancer fighting antioxidant compounds. He stated that phenols found in plants protect the plants against disease, and remain active after being processed into foods. Dr. Lee recommends drinking cocoa, red wine or green tea, depending upon time of day and other components of a meal. All are thought have beneficial health effects (although the alcohol in red wine can have deleterious effects in high doses).
To further elaborate on the anti-cancer effects of cocoa, we must consider a big word with a large beneficial effect on health. That word is "proanthocyanidin". These are condensed tannins (natural chemicals found in many foods and one of the compounds engendering red wine with flavor and palatability). Proanthocyanidins are widespread in edible plants. They have been found to have many properties making them good for health, (ref 3).
Dr. Tuckmantel and co-researchers state that there is a growing body of evidence that proanthocyanidins are potent antioxidants and have anti-cancer effects. They tested cocoa, and found that the proanthocyanidins in cocoa have the effect of inhibiting the growth of several human cancer cell lines, including human breast cancer cells, in the laboratory, (ref 4). These tannins are thought to be quite important to protect the plants during its life, but also to impart beneficial health results to the animals that consume the plants, including humans. The proanthocyanidins are found in abundance in cocoa, green tea, and red wine, among many other natural plant-derived foods. Dr. Ija Arts and colleagues at the Holland National Institute of Public Health studied the catechins in chocolate, and showed that it is rich in these cancer fighting antioxidants. They quantified the amounts of catechins in various foods.
Type of Foods
Dark Chocolate 53.5mg
Milk Chocolate 15.9mg
Black Tea infusion 13.9mg
The effect of cocoa on lung cancer was studied by researchers at Japan's National Institute of Health Sciences. Dr. Yamagishi and colleagues tested the effects of cocoa liquor on lung cancer cell lines transplanted into test rats, (ref5). Cocoa liquor is the oily liquid that results when the cocoa bean is pressed. It is present in most cocoa and chocolate products to varying degrees. They found that cocoa liquor proanthocyanidin exert chemo-preventive effects (beneficial anti-cancer effects of the natural chemicals found in the cocoa as proanthocyanidins) in lung cancer instigated in the test rats. Specifically, they measured that the final survival rate was higher in the test group receiving the cocoa liquor, their incidence of lung tumors was less, and tumors in the rats ‘thyroid glands were diminished in a manner related to higher doses of cocoa liquor proanthocyanidin administered to the rats.
Dr. John Weinberger, in a publication in the journal "Experimental Biology and Medicine", reveals his opinions that chocolate can fight cancer and other degenerative diseases common to mankind. He contends that research shows that cocoa and chocolate are rich in natural cancer fighting compounds such as procyanidins, epicatechins, catechins, and other polyphenols, and that the dietary intake of foods rich in these antioxidants raises the blood levels of the antioxidants, thus yielding beneficial effects against cancer. He is quoted as stating, "research shows that the cocoa bean, and tasty products derived from the cocoa bean such as chocolate, and the beverage cocoa, popular with many people worldwide, is rich in specific antioxidants, with the basic structure of catechins and Epicatechin, and especially the polymers procyanidins, polyphenols similar to those found in vegetables and tea. Etc. etc....
Karen Collins, R.D. of the American Institute for Cancer Research, is quoted as stating that flavonoids found in chocolate can fight cancer and other diseases. She advocates the consumption of foods high in flavonoids....etc. etc...
Xocai chocolate has a special processing patent that keeps all the natural, 300 nutrients of chocolate, protected and in the original concentrations. Xocai chocolate has been studies world wide, invovling 198 scientists, and presented in various prestigous journals and associations. Other types of processing loose up to 75% of the original nutrients.
For more information on xocai chocolate, go to: www.choicesunlimited.ca/xocai
To read more on the Health food of Chocolate – Amazon.com ”The Chocolate Health Food of Gods by Philip Minton, M.D," book....Sept 21, 2011
For more information, contact: Dr Holly at holly@choicesunlimited.ca
Copyright 2011 © Choices Unlimited for Health & Wellness
Disclaimer: This site is provided for general information only, and is not a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or other health care professional. This site is not responsible or liable for any diagnosis made by a user based on the content of this website. This site is not liable for the contents of any external internet sites listed, nor does it endorse any commercial product or service mentioned or advised on any of such sites. Always consult your own health care practitioner.